Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Crisaldo Pablo's Masukista - Deviancy in Amateur Exposition

While taking a leisurely walk in the woods, Clyde (Joeffrey Javier) witnesses
a young man being sodomized. Amidst constant violent thrusts, Clyde hears Neil’s
(Christian Cruz) whimpering. So he jumps to the rescue and takes the vulnerable
lad home where Neil is welcomed with palpable affection. Clyde, in fact, has
been celibate for the past 5 years, but feels he connects with Neil. That night,
the couple consummate their mutual attraction. The following day, Clyde finds
himself alone. Neil has left a video saying goodbye: “Di mawawala sa isip ko ang hugis ng iyong mukha.” (Was it triangular,
rhomboid or octagon? I wonder.) Neil needs to sort out his relationship with
his boyfriend Dex (Charles Delgado), the same guy Clyde saw at the woodland
with Neil.

But little did Clyde realize that he’d see Neil once again – right in
front of his doorstep. The new couple enjoys their blissful moments together.
Clyde, who manages a tutorial center, even takes Neil to work; introducing him
to friends. But something’s amiss. Neil gets unbelievably clumsy, succeeding to drop plates and glasses;
spill coffee on office reports, etc. And every time these happen, the latter would
taunt Clyde to physically hurt him as punishment. Soon it becomes clear: Neil
derives infinite sexual pleasure from extreme pain, humiliation and rough sex.
To accommodate his lover’s whim, Clyde seeks the help of Dex (Charles Delgado), Neil’s former boyfriend,
who manages a sadomasochism (S&M) club. He needs to understand more about
Neil’s deviant fixation with pain. On the home front, Neil has been pushing
the limits of their increasingly violent games. Though Clyde acquiesces,
warning bells alarm. Will they find salvation in Neil’s violence-riddled sexual
games? Or will conditions down spiral into the ultimate tragedy?

Director Crisaldo Pablo’s “Masukista” valiantly tackles a subject
matter that deserves discourse. After all, this sexual deviation exists. How do
we deal with it? Do we accommodate these aberrant proclivities? Where do we
seek help? Unfortunately, Crisaldo Pablo isn’t the right person to confront the
issue. In his case, this testy situation becomes more hazardous than empowering
because he delves into it like a noose awaiting its owner’s head.

Like most Crisaldo Pablo flicks, the writing is imprudent and sketchy,
you’re better off reading about this topic from, say, Wikipedia. Here’s a guy
(newbie Christian Cruz) who speaks
in the most egregious monotones, yet when Clyde’s friends apologize for calling
him “tanga” and “clumsy”, he suddenly turns into an Einstein: “Na aappreciate ko
ang pagiging reactive nyo, at ang dynamics ng reaction nyo.” Huh? Then suddenly,
the two dimwits reply with the most vomit-inducing: “Walaba ‘yang kapintasan?”
referring to this baby-faced, albeit cachectic guy they earlier called moron. And what’s the “dynamics of a reaction?” Is that some inscrutable
Freudian psychological mumbo jumbo that needs figuring out? Then let’s not
forget how, after 3 dozens of films, you still hear lines dictated to his actors with no compulsion to diligently
memorize a written script (if indeed there’s one). A 10-minute rehearsal prior
to a “cinematic take” would do
wonders for Pablo’s fledgling amateur show. Is it really too tedious to allow
your actors to memorize and rehearse their lines first before shooting a scene?

Clyde (Joeffrey Javier) saves Neil (Christian Cruz, left) from sexual battery by taking him home then sharing his shower. How's that for "extending a hand to the needy"?

Joeffrey Javier as Clyde, Christian Cruz as Neil

S&M RULES (AND THIS ONE’S
FOR THE BOOKS)

During Clyde’s tour to the S&M
Club handled by Dex, rules were given:
1) You have to strip naked when you’re
walking the club’s hallways; 2) When
you’re tying up your partner's limbs, make sure you don’t compromise the blood supply; 3) When you’re hitting your partner, avoid
blood vessels; 4) Use safety terms
to moderate the infliction of pain, i.e. red to stop, green to go ahead, and so
on. I am not even aware that such club exists in the country, and if it does,
is it even legal? After all, if pleasure factories like those seedy massage
parlors (used as prostitution fronts) were illegal, how much more for
establishments that inflict pain and condone violence? Moreover, endorsing such clubs in your
middling exposition gives it an iota of validity, thus condoning a deviant behavior that needs to be addressed medically. As for rule number 4, while we’re at it, why not just say “stop” when you’re hurting already? What
if you said “purple” and your
partner perceives this color code as continuous lashing until you’re purple? Then that’s one purple eggplant hanging down a harness, isn’t it? J

Except for Charles Delgado, who’s mostly a comfortable actor, the
performances are god-awful. Joeffrey Javier disappoints mostly because his
delivery mimics R2D2. At least George Lucas’ robots don’t buckle. In a scene
where he was dressing down his staff, he explodes: “ Hindi n’yo ba naiisip na baka kontra sa image natin ang pag aadvertise
niyo? Isipin nyo ang salitang ‘cheap’ at baka isipin nilang cheap tayo” – It
took him awhile to finish this line because he had to tumble and roll down between phrases. Now imagine what if you made him say: “Ang relo ni Leroy Rolex”! He won’t make it until kingdom come,
surely. What happened, Joeffrey? He was doing so well in Eduardo Roy’s “Bahay Bata”
and he was alright in Zig Dulay’s “Huling Halik”! Well, two words – Crisaldo Pablo! He inspires the worst in his actors, giving them the veneer of idiocy.

ALARMING

Newcomer Christian Cruz, on
the other hand, alarms. Sure, he has
the face of an angel, but he is exceedingly gaunt, he could fly off if you
suddenly sneeze! His arm is a fourth of Joeffrey’s thighs; his eyes sunken so
deep, you could place marbles in the socket and they’d run around the orbit
like sungka pieces! This boy has to
be fed fast before he expires from kwashiorkor!
How was he as Neil, the titular masochist? If Joeffrey was robotic, it would be
a disservice to robots to call him the same. He is as clueless with his lines
as he is with his role. I was anxious seeing him disrobe (which he did with gusto), taking showers,
getting sodomized and gang raped, etc. Cruz looked so fragile, you’d be scared
to hold him tightly or he might break from osteoporotic fracture. Seeing him move around
in his hyposthenic state is alarming. Does he have an active tuberculous
lesion? Do people actually feed him? Can’t the DSWD help?

DIRGES AND RECYCLED ELEMENTS

Another source of annoyance
is this horrible music, repeated ad
nauseam: Isha’s “Sikretong Pangarap” and the throaty dirge (yup, a funeral song), “Kung Gusto Mo Akong Makuha”! The pitch
is set too low so that the vocal quality sounds like it’s scraping a concrete bottom. Oh god, I had nightmares with these awful songs playing like a virulent soundtrack! As for Romy Guinoo’s
ballad, “Bukas Muli”, we’ve heard
this song several times in many of
Pablo’s past ouvres. He keeps recycling
these tracks until we’re blue! This once again underlines the mind set of this
producer-director. Crisaldo Pablo’s artistic acumen has virtually receded into levels
I cannot even define. His cinematic discourses have become too elementary, it’s almost
unfair to even call it an exposition. Isn’t this truly sad?

Charles Delgado as Dex, Neil's former lover and the manager of an S&M Club.

Dex teaches Clyde the rules of the game.

Neil derives pleasure from pain.

Gang banging the willing.

Joeffrey Javier - Back to zero!

Charles Delgado

Christian Cruz and Joeffrey Javier have the chemistry of inert substances.

PLAGIARISTS, BEWARE!

Having been a victim of repeated plagiarism, the next time I find a site infringing on my intellectual property, I will report you without warning and employ all effort to take you down and prosecute you.

Do NOT start a blog site if you're just going to prey on the work of others. It really isn't that hard to write your own material, you know. Grade school kids can do it.

STOP BEING PARASITES!

For the Nameless Nobodies!

I will not entertain anonymous messages regardless of how brilliant they are because they don't have "owners" who can vouch for them. If you haven't got a name, I haven't got the time! Cheers!